I Take You - adult fiction review

     

If you'd like to read my full review of this novel for adults, please go to BloggingforBooks.com.

      I Take You by Eliza Kennedy is a fast-paced edgy read. Authentic dialogue and witty descriptions kept me turning pages.

     As a young lawyer, the heroine Lily Wilder is well-written and believable, however, I didn’t find her particularly likeable. The jacket flap describes her as charming and irrepressible but the only thing that others seem to be charmed by is her willingness to act inappropriately. She lacks self control in every aspect of her life and the reader isn’t given any background for her behavior so she felt flat and one-dimensional. We learn in the final chapters that perhaps she is just a product of her environment as her family members gathered for the Key West wedding are equally free-spirited. Only her grandmother and childhood boyfriend have a lick of sense and brought a joyous feeling to the text. 

     The story is propelled by the question whether Lily will marry her brilliant, hunky fiancé. Meanwhile Lily continues her antics and notes social mores that have held men and women to different standards. What’s good for the gander should also be good for the goose. She defends her lifestyle while seeming depressed by it. But what really struck a false chord for me is when Lily has a hissy fit on page 222 upon learning that her fiancé is dabbling in the same kind of conduct. And then one day later both characters agree to convert to monogamy. What?

     The turning point didn’t work for me.

     Lily’s story wants to have it both ways. I’d recommend this book to readers that like Looking for Mr. Goodbar or Fifty Shades of Gray. 

Note: I received a review copy from Blogging for Books. No other compensation was received.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”